CMO & Chief Digital Officer AAXIS | 2012 – 2018
Ferguson is the leading plumbing and heating products distributor in the US, with annual sales ~$22B and online sales approaching $5B.
THE GOAL
Ferguson realized several years ago that their ability to leverage digital technologies to improve how their customers were able to do business with them, was going to be a key factor in allowing them to remain a leader in their industry, continue to grow and to successfully combat disruption coming from tough competition in the market. With over 2,400 retail locations, 23,000 associates, and over $22B in revenue, Ferguson’s efforts to create highly engaging, effective, omni-channel experiences was going to be no small effort.
THE SOLUTION
Working with Ferguson’s CMO and eCommerce team, I was part of the AAXIS leadership team that helped lead the strategy and execution of the following:
- Strategy – Designing a strategic and prioritized capabilities roadmap:
- Real-time omni-channel inventory across 1,300 stores and 10 DCs
- Simplified quoting and contracts process with custom quoting.
- Quick Ordering and quick re-ordering
- Guest user access to product catalogs and checkout.
- Accounting workflows
- Bill Pay/Invoicing
- Dozens of customer “self service” features.
- Conversion – Site redesign with more intuitive navigation (IA), product search, page designs and checkout (UX). Approvals workflow
THE RESULTS
- Improved conversion rates, due to easier and faster self-service checkout process
- Increased site visits from mobile and tablet devices, due to new responsive design
- Reduced sales support costs, due to a significant increase in self-service orders and fewer customer service calls
- Increased average number of products purchased per order
- Increased turnaround time for online quotes, resulting in improved customer satisfaction scores